Does Anyone Still Wear A Hat - NY Times

[hatflick1]

Just sharing with the Longe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/fashion/thursdaystyles/05CRITIC.html

 

[hatflick1]

Correction - Spell Check

Just sharing with the Lounge. C'mon, it's early!

 

[Mycroft]

Nice article, suprised they don't mechin J.J.'s Hat Center. But, it is still a nice article.

 

[MattC]

It is nice, but

I bought my first fedora at Worth and Worth, and I can't say I'm terribly impressed. When it shrank a bit (it was a Cervo) I brought it to them for refubishing, and got it back in worse shape than when I brough it in--ribbon stitches broken, and still shrunk.

The headline comes from a famous line from "Company."

 

[epic610]

I only have fond memories ...

and good experiences with the old Worth & Worth on Madison. It was a civilized way to shop . . . and the famed Morrell wine store was next to it.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

What a delightful little article. Thanks for posting it.

 

[John in Covina]

The Me

Here is a check list of the content of this article. It is written as a shining example of what passes for writing today.

First You have to read all about the writer taking digs at everything for about a quarter or more of the article before he even mentions hats.

Second: he sets about to impress everyone with his hat history knowledge as to why hats aren't 'in'

Third: more digs at people.

Fourth: you get to about halfway before you actually get to the shop or read about anybody actually looking at or trying to buy a hat.

What did we learn: they help bussinessmen, you should wear the clothes you are trying to match the hat to, and they don't measure your head to be sure of your size.

The actual useful info could be compressed to 3 sentences. I want to know about hats, not a KK review, not about replacing a cell phone, or how people dress on the west coast.

"In NYC everyone is so serious even the clowns dress in black."

Serves him right to lose the phone, I'll bet he loses the hat before long.

Nothing about styles or brands, nothing in depth about selection or fitting.

And in the end it winds up being about him again.

 

[Snrbfshn]

John - I agree...

Jeez, an article about hats is nice, but this guy is far more wrapped up in spouting a meandering piece that shows off his don't-you-think-I'm-special style. I guess that's how you get to be a journalist at the NYT.

 

[ii-5-i]

The author sounds like just another jaded, psuedo-hip adopted New Yorker in need of a stronger editor.

 

[scotrace]

Demography

Think of the audience. It's certainly not the <2% of the NYT readership who are hat aficionados or collectors. It's the casual reader, who, as has been said about The Reader's Digest subscriber, looks for an article that can be read "in the time it takes the average person to take the average c**p."

I doubt this will create much stir. The hats pictured are pretty awful. And he picked one of those ghastly wool tweed general-practice lawyer warmers.
Good to have the topic covered though.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I think some of you fellows are missing the point here. The gentleman who wrote this article is a columnist who writes a column about the experience of shopping for the "Fashion and Trends" section; a fluff piece for the fluff section. Next week he might write about picking up his kids and buying gum at the Dollar Store. It was meant as a slice of life vignette and nothing more.

There are several sections like this in the NYT. Have you ever seen the "Dear Diary" section? It's delightful; inconsequential, but delightful. Not every piece in every section is meant to be hardcore journalism.

 

[Bart]

Not Impressed

MattC bought a mediocre hat, but that shop gives very "so-so" service, as well and virtually no communication.

Bart

 

[photobyalan]

The article also has a glaring fact error, President Kennedy most certainly wore a hat on his inauguration day, both before and after the actual swearing-in. I believe this link has been posted here before.

When I was in journalism school, any fact error (even misspelling a name or place in the story) was an automatic 50-point deduction. That's right: one error of fact, no matter how trivial, and you failed that assignment. The lesson: do your research carefully and check the facts, then proofread the story. If only the NYT was half as stringent as the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, they might still be a respected newspaper instead of the laughingstock of the journalism business. Ouch!

Nice to see an article about hats, though. Even if it was a piece of tripe.

 

[The Wingnut]

All the news that's unfit to print anywhere else!

Take it for what it is, a knucklehead shopping for a hat. Specifically, a knucklehead with poor taste, an inflated sense of self-importance and lousy journalistic skills shopping for a hat.

 

[John in Covina]

During the parade for JFK's innauguration, as the father Joeseph Kenendy pased, JFK makes a point by tipping his hat to his dad. That's the story I recall hearing.

 

[shorel]

everyone's a critic, here at least.

JFK did not wear a hat during his speech, despite the frigid temperatures. That is a fact, not a fact error. The speech -- "ask not" -- is what everyone remembers about that day, not the tipping of the hat to his dad from the motorcade, something that only History Channel buffs know.

As luck would have it, I was at the Worth store too last Saturday, and the story is accurate. It was not a survey of the state of the hat market, nor a zagat-like guide to retail hat establishments in NYC or elsewhere, nor a comprehensive history of hats in America. It's a little essay weaving in elements of style (the section of the paper, after all), fashion, even the subway strike (did you all miss that?). Saying he deserved to lose his cellphone because he's such a lousy writer is rather petulant, don't you think?

As to the hat I bought there, well so far I like it fine. If I can figure out how to post photos, and further manage to take a good one, I'll do it. How it holds up to wear and weather only time will tell.

The one being tried on by the man in the picture looks a little like the most expensive fedora in the store, made of beaver felt. (right color and shape, anyway). I didn't get that one. Not just too expensive, felt too floppy for my taste.

 

[besdor]

I think any article that talks about hats whether it be positive or negative is good for business. We get many calls from reporters doing articles about fashion why nobody wears hats anymore . We try to turn the reporters around , showing them that hats are back somewhat. There was another thread about a senator who was busted a little while ago and one reporter wanted to know about the hat in the picture . The conversation about the senator started out negative but we turned it around into am article about hats . I hope to see it soon in Forbes magazine .
Anyway , the Worth and Worth shown in the article has very little to do with the original store on Madison Ave . :cool2:

 

[WEEGEE]

HATLESS JACK

NOT THE BEST STORY BUT ...THE PROMOTION OF HATITUDE IS A PLUS.

IF YOU HAVE NOT...READ NEIL STEINBERG'S HATLESS JACK

ITS IN THE DETAILS THAT WE LEARN ...OBSERVATIONS OF THE CONNECTIONS.

THE HAT UNION BACKED JFK AFTER ALL THE OTHER UNIONS THOUGHT OF PULLING SUPPORT WHEN HE ASKED JOHNSON TO JOIN THE TICKET AS VP.

 

[scotrace]

This JFK Silliness

I don't think ANY US President wore his hat DURING the inaugural speech (or during a campaign speech, for that matter). At the start of a public speaking engagement, the hat comes off. There's a clear picture of Lincoln delivering his 2nd Inaugural - hatless. JFK wore one on the way to, on the platform and up until he doffed it to speak. After, it went back on his head where it remained, with allowances for polite removal and clothes changes, through the inaugural balls.
JFK did not cause the demise of hat wearing due to his not wearing a hat that day, or during his speech. To say so is a factual error.

 

[jpdesign]

The only hats worn dury inoguation speeched have traditionally been top hats. Since his fedora was not that formal he took it off.

Jimmy